Bzzzt Zzzzzttt Brrrrzt Buuuzt

The Ray of Light screeched into existence as superheated light evaporated the trace amounts of stone as it traveled up and down the designated artwork.

After having passed over every part of the artwork, the Ray of Light changed directions and went from down to the top, and when it had evaporated more stone that way, it went diagonally up and down.

However, those were not the only modes because the Ray of Light sometimes traced circles, squares, and triangles as it carved the artwork. Sometimes, the Ray of Light just focused on specific parts of the artwork to give it additional depth through three-dimensional engraving.

As such, mere minutes after the procedure started, it was already possible to recognize the features Adamu wanted to engrave into the stone.

The main feature of the artwork was one central obelisk with a pyramidal top pointing at the circle above it, representing the Sun as it traversed over the horizon with its blazing and descending Rays over the obelisk and the prostrated people kneeling before the obelisk.

Naturally, these people, the obelisk, and the sun were not full three-dimensional artwork because that would take far too much effort on Adamu’s side since he was already fuming by directing the Hard Light Convex Lens to gather the descending Rays from the blue sky only to condense those Rays further into one singular powerful Ray of Light that could heat and evaporate stone itself.

Then, on top of that, was the focus required to guide that singular Ray of Light in bursts to actually carve as he wanted and not just make random scribbles on the stone. Truly, if not for having done it before, in his previous body/life, he would not have been able to do it because the needed imagery in his head had to be assembled layer after layer.

Thankfully, three merits were easing the process for Adamu.

The first merit represented the interactions of Profound Laws. Meaning that the energy state of the Ray of Light was much higher in Rank when compared to the simple stone being heated and evaporated to engrave an Idol upon it.

Had it been done through regular light, not only would it have taken a stronger Spell/Miracle, on top of having taken much, much longer.

The second merit was that Adamu had no need to create the best art piece in the world, all at once. Instead, the engraving would be split into multiple sessions. As such, the details could be left for the end, while the bulk of the needed shape was completed first.

The third, and probably the most merit-giving fact, was the fact that this was accomplished while Adamu was a pure Mortal.

Meaning that the amount of effort put into this mattered more than the artwork itself because that effort translated into merit, into Faith, and it was that Act of Faith that mattered the most to Divinities. Thus, the more Adamu struggled despite being provided the energy by an elevated existence, the higher the chance of the appreciation being reciprocated by said higher existence.

Overall, Adamu sweated a lot to cool his brain as his mind struggled with the focus expenditure due to his Spirit straining to do what it generally should not have been able to.

In the end, after about ten minutes of working his Spirit off, the lightshow ceased, and Adamu plopped to the ground as if no bones or muscles existed in his body.

“Huff… Huff…”

“Should have gone for a smaller Idol.” Adamu noted with hindsight fueling the regret because he had done everything through Sun Bearer instead of through him, which would have been much easier, as then his Spirit could have directly bypassed the needed focus expenditure through Ina’s Glory lubricating the process.

“Oh, well. Too late to regret it now.” Adamu said and stood up to slowly move closer and examine his effort. “It is rough, but the margins are within the imagined tolerance. The overall shape, however, could do some fine-tuning, but that will be left for the second and third phases.”

“All in all, not bad.” Done examining, Adamu ignored everything else and sat down and leaned his back on the same stone before closing his eyes to rest and enjoy the sunlight passing through the tree-covered foliage.

Then, Adamu’s eyes quickly flared open before gazing at the foliage in question. While tilting his head left and right, a reminder climbed rose from the depths of his mind.

“Fine… Il trimm it down later.”

Closing his eyes again, Adamu rested for about an hour before grabbing Sun Bearer and praying once again. Only this time, he did not need to conjure the Hard Light Convex Lens Construct. No, there was a reason Adamu chose this method instead of the others that could have been used, like maybe directly summing the Rays from the sky.

No, this method was much more efficient, on top of allowing Adamu to keep the convex lens made out of hardened light for himself, similar to the Eternal Light conjured and now recharging not too far from him.

Bzzzzt Brrrrzzzt

Finally completed, Adamu huffed for air.

However, an air of triumph radiated from his golden eyes.

Still, there was one last hurdle before Adamu could rest.

That said, Adamu brought Sun Bearer and touched the carved sun on the Idol engraved from stone. There, he transferred a bit of Ina’s Glory. Generally, nothing would have changed as stone could not store said energy, but neither was it meant to.

Instead, Adamu concentrated and conjured another Hard Light Construct to take the shape of the Sun on the carving. Then, once shaped, it began to absorb the surrounding light to use the said absorbed light to grow throughout the engraved channels of the Sun. Then, one line representing an engraved channel leads from the Sun onto the pyramidal top of the obelisk. As such, this made it seem as if the obelisk top gathered the Sun’s energy to power itself and all the embellishments made on the obelisk’s main body.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

However, since the stone carving was 2D/3D in nature, the Hard Light construct fully embraced the three dimensions instead of the second dimension and became a Ritual Prayer with all the symbology on the front of the obelisk carving. Still, the ongoing growth had not Ceased because soon enough, the obelisk was at full capacity, in a manner of speaking, and therefore fully self-sustained.

However, that was not satisfactory for Adamu. Not when compared to the effort used to make the engraving. As such, the Hard Light Construct used another engraved line and flooded down the obelisk carving and onto the ground before the kneeling and praying people.

There, Adamu had carved out a bowl-shaped indentation such that when the Hard Light Construct filled every nook and cranny, it took the shape of a big bowl. Unfortunately, while the bowl was bif for the carved and kneeling people, for Adamu, it was barely large enough to fit two adult-sized hands inside to scoop its insides.

Either way, unlike what people might perceive, the main attraction was, in fact, that bowl, because when the Hard Light Construct took on the form of the bowl, it also took on the shape of the second Ritual Pattern on the Idol, only this one was not paying homage to Ina. No. Instead, it was a standard Water Conjuration Pattern that would draw on the Realm Grid, thereby drawing on the Realm building energy that was Mana to transform Raw Mana into ordinary water all living beings could drink and satisfy their thirst.

The best part was that it was powered and energized by True Light, thereby removing any and all spiritual signatures from the Water Conjuring Ritual Pattern.

Thus, the draw on the Realm Grid became background information, like part of nature itself.

Once the Hard Light Construct finished growing and the first droplets of water appeared from thin air, Adamu interfaced with the construct and directly transformed its rigid nature into an intangible one.

After all, since it was already built and working as it was supposed to, there was no need to let it remain visible or touchable.

No, to let it remain as it was, begged for some accident to mess it all up. This way, none but those touched by Ina’s Glory or Light Magic Specialists would be able to interface with the Ethereal Light Construct or even realize that it was, in fact, there, thus further masking its existence.

Hence, the only detriment to this water source was the carved Idol itself because it was the framework upon which everything was constructed and anchored. As such, the only way for this Dual Natured Ritual to cease working completely was to destroy the stone on which Ina’s Idol got engraved.

Nodding at a job well done, Adamu observed the speed at which the water droplets manifested. “Slower than expected. Then again, I designed it for higher up where Light shone much brighter.” Nodding and shrugging his shoulders, Adamu, once again, reminded himself of the trimming job he promised himself he would do but thankfully could wait.

Instead, Adamu left Ina’s Idol and returned to the elevated platform of earth to replug Sun Beaer into the Eternal Light to recharge further, as there was still plenty of time till Dusk came forcing him to take shelter somewhere, probably the same place the bush almost smothered him to death, with the main reason being the proximity to the rat/cat den.

That aside, Adamu sat down and went over the process of engraving.

However, his thoughts did not stay that for long. No. Instead, they centered around Light because no matter who took the Path of Light, be they Mortal or Divine, all of them were highly cherished, not only because of the potency of Light as a foundational Profund Law of Creation but also because of its versatility if one could stretch one’s imagination.

If there was one downside to it, then it was the relative weakness early on during the Path of Light because materializing Light demanded high Spellcraft Skill for its usage, and that was when the true versatility manifested, excluding purification and healing, of course.

Shaking his head, Adamu dismissed that line of thought and focused on something he needed now, namely, the methodology that would shape his future like nothing else ever would.

When Dusk came, and the Dusk Prayer echoed from Adamu’s mouth, he knew it was time for him to leave.

Taking Sun Bearer, Adamu canceled the absorbing function of the Eternal Light on it and made his way to the recently built water source. Once there, Adamu took note of the gathered water. Nodding and slurping the cup-worth amount of water, Adamu continued on and returned close to the rat/cat den.

Once again taking refuge between two trees, Adamu waited for the True Darkness to arrive and announce the incoming Night.

When there was nothing but Darkness to observe, Adamu focused on his thoughts and the refining of the methodology he planned on creating. However, the moment the first signs of stupefaction occurred, Sun Bearer's Protective Enchantment flared up with extra energy to protect him.

What followed was the Illusion giving up one way while succeeding in another by pulling Adamu directly into the Illusion.

Finding the rat/cat den entrance was easy, very easy, in fact.

However, Adamu did not go inside. Instead, he tried to trace his way back to the one place he spent the most during the day. And he made it, though it had taken much longer than Adamu liked because everything had grown bigger inside the ancient giant forest, including the amount of ground he had to cover to reach Ina’s Idol.

Once there, Adamu stared at the large, much larger Idol than it should be. So large, in fact, that he could take a bath inside the bowl that gathered Raw Mana and transformed said Raw Mana into pristine water, only it was not doing so at the moment.

Shaking away the stupor of gigantification, Adamu neared and examined the carving in detail.

“Huh.” Noticing something as its maker, via Sun Bearer, of course, Adamu climbed inside the enlarged bowl. Touching all the lines and shapes defining the Water Conjuration Ritual Pattern, Adamu noticed a few drops of water here and there. Then, just as Adamu wanted to take a closer look, he witnessed a drop of water appear out of thin air near the edge of the bowl.

“Still working, is it?” Adamu wondered, but a hunch told him that something was wrong. As such, Adamu touched the lines representing the Ritual Pattern itself. Then, with his fingers, he traced the pattern to the now humongous obelisk engraving. “Mmm… When I made it intangible instead of tangible, the Light construct was no longer restrained by the actual dimension of the Idol but… but it was also not meant to change its size, so when its anchor did, it had to follow suit.“

“Makes sense, only now it does not have the source of energy to properly self-sustain its anchor, so it is barely hanging on.” Adamu understood and stepped back into the large bowl. Then he focused on Sun Bearer and the Eternal Light attached at its top.

Focusing on Eternal Light, he sent it into the air, right where the depiction of the Sun had magnified its proportions as well. Once it was there. Adamu brought it close to the sun symbol and let the Eternal Light flare as bright as it could.

Taking his eyes away, as it was too bright for even Adamu, he instead focused on the obelisk and the Ritual Pattern engraved on it. For a moment, Adamu saw a flicker of the Ethereal Light Construct before it vanished again.

Nonetheless, that was enough to prove that his conjecture was correct.

Dismissing the obelisk from his mind, Adamu paid more attention to the bowl and the droplets that formed inside it.

“It's faster than before.” Adamu noticed. “Must be the increased size of the Ritual.”

“However, I am curious. What would happen if the Silver Light of the Moon gets absorbed instead?”

“Umm… Should I even try it?”